General Question

Female jellies: anyone here tried shaving all their hair off their head?

So I’m getting the urge to shave my hair…. it seems like something I should try at least once in my life, but it’s a bold, bold move! I want to hear stories: why you did it, what everyone’s reactions were, and what the experience was like in general….

If you aren’t female or haven’t tried shaving it off but had a close friend/sibling/SO that did, I’m happy to hear your journey with them too.

17 Answers

My dreads were loose enough at the base that I was able to pick them out instead of shaving, but I’m sure some other formerly dreadly ladies will chime in soon. I considered it, but didn’t want to put my mom through more daughterly hair trauma. I have one buddy who lost her hair accidentally (allergic reaction to hair coloring) – she said it felt great, feeling the air move against skin that had never felt it before, but naked.

I’d like to try it at some point, when I no longer have to worry about things like getting a job. Maybe after the next round of dreads.

I haven’t, but a friend of mine did when her mother was going through chemo treatments, as a way of showing support I suppose. It wasn’t that drastic for her because she already had really short hair. She pulled it off and it grew back fairly quickly.

I’d never do it, but go for it if you want to. I’m curious as to what your reason would be though. I’ve never met someone that said it seems like something they should try at least once. Why?

I so wish it would become the absolute “in” thing to do for women. It would be so nice not to have to worry about hair!!! I cannot understand why guys for whom it is socially acceptable to have crewcuts, bother with fancy hairdos!

Anyhow, I never have but I applaud your nerve if you do it! Let’s see pics please!

I did. It was falling out and I was sick of picking it of the drain pillowcase and comb. It was like watching the petals fall off of a rose. Every day I felt shrunken.
Demi Moore from GIJane was a figure I always admired. And I liked her balls her fire. I had been tempted before but previously tied to convention I was stopped by it.
So I bought a shaver from walmart read the directions and got to it. I felt like I was empowered but also bereft.
I shaved it as close to bald as I could. Then I took pictures.
My hair is growing back now, still a little thin. I am torn to grow it out longer but I always give in and get it cut. Before I reach my length goal somewhere along chin or mid neck length, it turns out I have a very nicely shaped head, and bone structure for short hair. I got a lot of comparisons to Sinead O’Connor and a lot of initial questions, depending on how well I knew them I would answer flippantly or truthfully or somewhere in the middle. A couple of times I got confused for lesbian, but I am very comfortable with that, I just can’t help if there were specific questions. There were no negative connonations behind it.
I sometimes wore caps. I found they added to my style and were quite handy. But the wind on naked skin was a divine experience.
As far as detering the male crowd, Nope some of them didn’t like it which was fine. I was pretty satisfied, actually I started dating shortly after that, it didn’t last but by that time my hair was longer.

Pros: hair came back super soft. Boost in confidence. Plenty of curious attention. It just so happened to be a good look for me. If not suited for you there are tons of hats, good looking wigs and it grows back. You get to satisfy your curiosity.
Cons: some people will judge you, some males will reject you. It can take a while to grow out again during which time esp if your constantly cutting it like me. You do eventually miss hair styling and hats get uncomfortable should you go that route wigs worse I imagine.

At my old Univ, the freshmen have something called “Bald Day.” It’s an off-campus tradition that’s not supported by the Univ, but they can’t stop it because it’s off-campus and supposedly pressure-free. Boys and girls both shave their heads, razor smooth.

Up until Bald Day, everyone dyes their hair all crazy colors, get the most insane hairstyles they can come up with then- buzzzzz, all off! I haven’t heard anyone regret shaving their heads because of the novelty and bonding factors—I have heard complaints afterwards from girls with really curly hair because it takes longer for their hair to get back to normal, but they don’t regret the adventure. It’s crazy how many oddly shaped heads there are out there!

I can’t say for myself because I never participated, but looking back, I wish I did—just for the experience.

I have, 4 times actually (I’m 24 now, just as a reference). I’m not a tom-boy by any means, but I’m not super girly either, and I’ve never felt super attached to my hair like I know a lot of girls do, so it’s never been a problem for me to have it cut off.

Whenever I’ve shaved my hair it wasn’t for any reason in particular (i.e. as an act of rebellion or to prove myself to anyone, etc.) other than I just felt like it. My hair is super curly and it gets really long when I let it grow out and people are always shocked that I would cut “such beautiful hair.” My most recent venture was in September of last year and the hairdresser was so nervous that she literally was shaking as she cut my hair, which, at the time, was just below my shoulder blades. She couldn’t understand why I was cutting it and tried to talk me out of it, but I wasn’t having it. The other time prior to that, about 4 years ago, the hairdresser got really mad at me and refused to cut it until she realized that my mind was made up and if she didn’t do it someone else was going to, but she wasn’t happy at all!!

To answer your other questions: I never tell anyone I’m going to cut my hair; I just go and do it. After the initial shock of seeing me with all of my hair cut off, everyone usually concedes that they like the look on me. One guy at work asked me if I had been wearing a wig all along and finally decided to take it off, and one of my friends walked right by me several times and didn’t say a word to me and I thought I’d done something to upset her until I realized that she just hadn’t recognized me. My mom never likes it when I cut my hair because, according to her, “it’ll limit my chances of finding a good job and a good guy” lol and my dad is usually the one who eggs me on to cut it and then, when I do, asks my why in the world I did it – go figure!

For me, it’s always a liberating experience. I love not having to worry about doing my hair in the morning. I just get in and out of the shower. It’s awesome, especially in the summer when it’s really hot. The only part I don’t like is when it’s going through that awkward growing phase when it’s neither short nor long and you can’t really do much with it, you just have to let it be. Other than that, I absolutely love it – and a big plus is that your hair will grow back much nicer, virtually damage-free. It’s like getting a clean slate.

Just to clarify, when I say shave I don’t mean going bald. I cut it really close to my head, but not bald lol

Edit: I should add that if you do decide to go through with it to make sure that you’re doing it for yourself and not to prove something to someone. Also, don’t keep yourself from doing it because of what others might say. You’re the one who’ll have to live with it and whether those around you like it or not shouldn’t really matter to you. People will probably try to talk you out of it for whatever reason, but if it’s what you want, just go for it. Don’t let them rub their fears and misgivings off on you.

I may not be a girl, but if there is one thing that I have learned in life it’s simply that you should do what you want to do. It’s just hair, it’ll grow back. And if someone has an issue with it, to hell with them. They can have an issue with it, that’s not your problem, it’s theirs.

Do it if you want to, but be warned that you may have a lumpy head or it could be covered with birth marks. I wanted to shave my head for a long time, still might do it someday. I consider myself to be pretty attractive, but I know I don’t have the face for it. You have to be extremely beautiful to actually look good with a shaved head. I’m not saying you’re not, and I’m not saying you even care about your looks. But if you do, think long and hard before doing it, cause not only is that a huge deal but the growing out process doesn’t look great on a lot of people either. Serious time committment there.

To answer @livelaughlove21 and any other curious jellies as to why I want to do it.
Well, my hair’s always been a hassle. It’s curly, unruly, and generally needs a lot of management for it to look nice. And fortunately or unfortunately, there really is a significant difference to my appearance when I do take care of my hair.

Recently my hair is the longest it’s ever been (i.e. past my shoulders), and I’ve pretty much been asked to keep it as it is due to a theatre piece I’m acting in. The show premieres this weekend, and after the run, I’ll get a chance to do whatever I want with my hair again.

So aside from being tired of managing my hair, I’ve always been curious what it might be like. As in for-the-past-decade curious; but as I’ve been teaching, it’s never felt quite appropriate. However, that’s seems to be sort of phasing out (as in, I’m really scaling back to my commitment there), so now it seems much more of a non-issue than it used to be.

I’m planning to take a 10 day vipassana retreat around about Christmas; so it seems like it would be a good time to try it out; that way I get to be bald and also see if I like it at all before giving my grandmother and everyone else the inevitable heart attack.

Anyway, I don’t have to decide for a few weeks; and I wanted to hear stories.(I’ve also always loved the texture of the fuzz when it grows back…. whenever I have a friend who does this I can’t resist running my hands through it…)

Dreads is the only thing I haven’t done because I didnt want to shave my head to get rid of them. I never shaved my whole head, but I shaved the bottom of it don’t ask it was the 90s. And I had a Mohawk & tri-hawks, which never worked out. I think shaving my whole head would have worked out better.

@Cuddleworm Unless your dreads are really tight at the base – only if you naturally have extremely curly hair, or if you are black – you can pick them out rather than shaving your head. It takes about as long as it does to put them in.